IJ4EU Freelancer Support Scheme

• Eligibility Criteria: All 27 EU member states and the following non-EU countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Ukraine, are eligible to apply.
• Type of Funding: Grant
• Region: Europe
• Application Language: English

The IJ4EU Freelancer Support Scheme is offering support grants of up to €20,000 to cross-border teams of freelance journalists. The scheme will also offer tailored assistance including training, mentoring and networking opportunities. The European Journalism Centre (EJC) will manage the mentoring and training programmes.

Thematics

• IJ4EU is open to cross-border investigative projects on any topic.
• This includes, but is not limited to, corruption, illicit enrichment and financial crime, security, democracy and human rights, environment and climate change, and health.
• Projects must aim to reveal new information that is of relevance to the public in at least two Creative Europe countries.

What the grant offers 

• Mentorship and training: Each awarded team will work with one or more carefully selected mentors according to how their needs evolve as they proceed with their projects. Additionally, EJC will organise online expert calls (“Ask Me Anything” sessions) with specialists.
• Networking: In addition to the in-person networking opportunities for all IJ4EU grantees, EJC will organise a half-day online event bringing together each awarded cohort of the Freelancer Support Scheme at the start of their projects.
• Grant: IJ4EU will make the payment of grants in three instalments: 60 percent at the time of agreement signing, 20% after mid-term report submission, and remaining 20% following the submission of a final report.

Eligibility

Teams composed of at least two freelance journalists should submit applications that meet the following criteria:

• Teams must have members based in at least two European countries that have signed up to the full cross-sectoral strand of the European Union’s Creative Europe Programme.
• Eligibility is based on residency (where you live and work) and not nationality (citizenship).
• Team members from third countries (countries that are not Creative Europe participating countries) may participate as part applying teams. However, in order to do this, teams must already meet the core criteria mentioned above.
• Applications must justify the relevance of the investigation to the public interest in the eligible countries targeted by the investigation.

Requirements 

• News organisations or platforms in at least two Creative Europe countries should publish the outcome of the work.
• Developed investigations can be in all formats (print, broadcast, online media, documentary filmmaking, and multi-platform storytelling).
• Initially, the projects may be published behind a paywall. However, they should be made available outside of the paywall after one month.
• Investigations should to acknowledge IJ4EU’s support when they are published, in the most feasible way.

How to apply 

Applicants must submitted applications via the online Good Grants platform. The team should desinate a lead applicant to create a personal user account to ensure the application e submitted securely. Applicants need to provide the following while applying:

• A brief description of the proposed project.
• A publication plan, describing the expected timeline for the investigation and publication.
• The main risks associated with completing the project and how the team plans to mitigate against these risks. Applicants may use this risk assessment template.
• A budget (in EUR) based on this model budget.
• Applicants should be sent no later than April 13, 2026. 

For more information, please vist this page.